My favorite time of year approaches...

There is nothing more beautiful than New England in the fall. It's the one true thing about living in Boston that I really miss...every year.

In honor of Midvale City's 100th Year Celebration the Hillcrest Student Government, of which Bryce is Junior Class President, the cheerleaders and the band paraded in the Harvest Days Parade. They had a great time yelling out cheers and being together as friends.

On the way back home we had to stop and take in the beautiful sunset.

At the fountain in Ann Morrison Park

We had a great time visiting grandma in Boise. We got to spend a few days there... we even got to go white water rafting down the Payette River with some friends. it was lots of fun.

This was way fun...We had a blowout on the freeway on the way to Boise to visit grandma. It's a little unsettling changing a tire just feet away from semi trucks flying down the road.

I'm a little behind in my blogging efforts. Sarah had her 11th birthday back on June 25th. It was a grand event. Friends and family came and celebrated with her. She got some pretty fun art stuff and of course new clothes and shoes.

Bryce ran in the Sandy City 4th of July race with his cross country team.

The youth of our ward went to Wyoming for their conference this year. They went white water rafting and horseback riding with a detour at Lava Hot Spring on the way up. It was a blast.

Sarah, who won Overall Queen in Dance Competition, is pictured here with sash and crown.

Sarah wins First Place Queen for her "Carmen" solo

Sarah really did a beautiful job on her "Carmen" solo. She has worked so hard on it. She was graceful and poised as she executed every step. She was so nervous before going on stage. Everyone in her company, teacher and dancer alike, went crazy cheering her on when they called her name so she could go up and receive her First Place Queen trophy and her tiara. She came home with some pretty HUGE trophies . Hard work pays off in the end.

Sarah's Tapp Team Routine wins HUGE

This was my favorite team routine. It was so original and clever and the girls really blew them away. They performed this to a techno version of "Pink Panther" The girls not only took first place, but they also received the "Grand Champion Overall High Point Winner" trophy. They had the most fun with this routine I think. You could see it in their faces, they had to try to not laugh.

Sarah and Hannah take third place

Sarah and Hannah were amazing. They have practiced so hard for so long and they really shined up there. There were so many girls at the competition, their trophy was a great accomplishment. After the competition was over the teachers received the grading sheets and comments from judges. The judges said that they had incredible timing and precision in the technique of their dance. They too received a deduction that caused them a higher trophy because the judges said that they were too advanced for their age category. So what do you say to something like that? Don't do too good? your too young to be that good? Quite the compliment if you ask me. You should see these two dance they are fantastic!

Sarah's trio wins fourth place

Sarah, Samantha and Ashley were fun and sassy in their trio routine. They really lit up the stage. The judges said they exhibited incredible energy and skill. These three received a deduction in points because they were too good for their age category according to the judges...Go figure. This is such a fun dance you should see it. borrow my CD.

Sarah's Competition Team Routines Win Second

This was their ballet routine performend to "Stars and Stripes" they took second place. It was beautiful and very original.


This was their Jazz routine performed to "You Can't Stop the Beat" they took second on this one also.

Mason and the Third Grade Country Fair

Mason and Ethan both did their reports on Spain. They are good buddies

Mason did his report on Spain for the Country Fair this year. He wore a bullfighter costume his grandmother bought when she went to Spain a few years ago. The whole grade learned songs in several different languages for the program. The Country Fair is one of the best events at our school. He had such a good time.

Bryce

Bryce has become such a great young man. He is funloving, responsible, consciences, and hardworking. He has such a wonderful easy going personality that makes people comfortable around him. His teachers always comment on his exceptional courtesy and willingness to always help others. I wish Paul and I could take credit, but Bryce has always been an exceptional person ever since he was born. He has always been sensitive and thoughtful to others. He is a such a blessing in our lives. I wish that the next few years would go by very slowly before he moves on with his own life plans. Eventhough I know such a thing is not possible I will miss having my little boy around constantly, but look forward to seeing him become a remarkable man.

Easter Bunny Brunch...guess who the bunny is.

We had our First Annual Easter Bunny Brunch Young Women's Fundraiser. It was such a great success. The whole ward rallied around these great girls so they could earn money for summer camp. The activities committee provided all the food, fruits, eggs, hash browns, ham and homemade sourdough waffles. There were Easter egg hunts for all ages and a huge price table full of tons of fun things. There were also games to play and activities such as face painting, fingernail painting, cookie decorating and lots of others. One of the boys in our ward who is almost 12 made balloon animals and swords and hats for everyone. The Easter Bunny even came and all the children young and old went and had their pictures taken with him. The best part of the whole thing was, (and I may be biased,) that Bryce was the Easter Bunny. Bryce and one other boy from Young Men's took shifts being the Easter Bunny because it got too hot in the suit for one boy to sit in it for hours. So Here's Bryce with his brother and sister... How often can you say you got to be the Easter Bunny when you were 16.

Seminary + March Madness Don't Mix.

A funny thing happened to Bryce yesterday in Seminary. Brother Rivera loves basketball and decided to carry the March Madness theme into his seminary class. Instead of having them find a scripture he told them to pick a person from each team and sprint out to his car, touch it and run back. First person would gain a point for their team. Bryce was picked for his team because he runs on the track and cross country teams even though he reminded them he wasn't a sprinter but a distance runner. They insisted and so off the two runners went. Class members watched out the window to see who would come in first. The two were neck in neck the entire time till the very end when the other boy pushed passed Bryce right at the doors. The other boy opened the door just barely ahead of Bryce. Instead of continuing to run, he turned, grabbed the door and pulled it shut just as Bryce was going through it. The door caught Bryce right on the side of his face vertically along his jawline. Bryce said the next few seconds were surreal. He said he felt like a ping pong ball. His head jammed between the door and the door jam then it popped out and smacked into the wall , bounced back and hit the on the door edge again. After all the ricochets Bryce doesn't remember hitting the ground. He said he forgot what happened for a second until Brother Rivera and members of his class came running out after Bryce didn't come in. Brother Rivera reached out and helped him off the ground. When Bryce stood up he had a gash above his lip that was bleeding down his face and he felt like his jaw was unhinged. When Bryce walked back into the class he said out loud..." I think that would be considered a foul" everyone laughed at his remark including Bryce. Last night he couldn't smile very big nor open his mouth very far because his jaw was killing him. He went to bed earlier than usual with a couple of Ibuprofen. He was able to laugh it off much better than I would have. He said looking back the whole thing was pretty funny and crazy. Today his jaw is really sore and he's had a hard time eating because he can't open his mouth. We told him it would be a few days before it felt any better. Poor guy.

Mother nature's mood swings give me whiplash.. bring on spring.

(photo by Lesley)

Paul as Vice Chair of a Midvale City Planning Commission meeting.